Traitor King

On December 11, 1936 the King of England, Edward VIII, gave up his crown for Wallis Simpson, an American who was divorced twice.  Their courtship had been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication he thought they could live happily ever after.  In this dual biography historian Andrew Lownie reveals the dramatic lives of both of the Windsors post-abdication. 

I was not surprised that the royal family shunned him. Edward embarrassed them not only by demanding to marry Wallis but also by befriending Adolf Hitler. It was fairly obvious that war with Germany was coming. However, Edward thought he could negotiate peace with Hitler. Edward was scarred by his participation in WWI and wanted to avoid war at any cost. He had a blind spot with Hitler, though, who attempted to recruit Edward to his cause. The family and the government believed that he was incompetent to be king and I believe that is the real reason they forced the issue with Wallis.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor traveled from sumptuously appointed mansions in the south of France to luxurious residences in Palm Beach. Research shows, however, that they were spoiled, selfish people, obsessed with their image, and revelling in adulterous affairs with people of both sexes. I was surprised that they never paid for any of their expenses, hoping the royal family would pay the bills. The reason this is surprising is because Edward held assets worth one million dollars. Both were bisexual and the author tells us who they were with and when. Alot of the research was obtained from letters the author found.

If all this was not enough of a scandal, the Duke, as Governor of the Bahamas, tried to shut down an investigation into the murder of a close friend. No, these two do not appear to be as glamorous as we all once thought.

The book is a quick read and I enjoyed it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Bright Ages

The Bright Ages is a 1,000 year history of medieval Europe beginning in the 400s. I selected it for the Nonfiction Reader Challenge because I am fascinated with this era. 

The publisher's summary:

The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. 

The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.  

The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics.  

 

My expectation for the book was that each European country would be delved into. It does that but it is still Rome-centric. There are chapters on Rome, Jerusalem, Britain, France, Russia, Spain and Mongolia. People from other areas are covered briefly with a sentence or two. I was disappointed with this focus of the book. Alot of history was left out but note that the author covered 1,000 years of history in 250 pages. There is a 60 page bibliography at the end. 

The book opened with a fascinating profile of Galla Placidia, sister and mother of Roman emporers. In addition, she was the queen of the Visigoths and led many successful battles for them. Placidia lived in the 400s. A devout Christian, she built or restored churches in Jerusalem, Rome, and in Ravenna where the book begins. This lady captivated me and I must find material to read about her. Maybe someone has written a historical novel about her?  I was disappointed that other historical figures were not discussed later in the book because a fun way to learn history is through the lives of people.

I was struck by the description of the book as a new history of medieval Europe. I was expecting information new to me but halfway through I realized that I knew more about medieval history than the author. From this point I began critiquing the information he included as well as what he excluded. Too much was left out and much of what was included was not explained.

Two sentences in the last chapter refers to the Dark Ages of our present time and the author blames the U. S. for it. He states that the U. S. was founded on white supremacy.  Obviously, he did not study U. S. history but as I contemplated this remark I realized The Bright Ages could be considered a history of just white people. While he centered the book on Europe, which is primarily white, he excluded the contributions of Muslims to our "white" art and literature. All the credit is given to well known Europeans. Also, I was frustrated when he mentioned the Paris physicians who were consulted on the origins of the plague. All of the medical knowledge that we have originated from the Muslims. Jewish scholars learned medicine from them and brought it to Europe. In addition, there was no mention of the contributions from North Africa to our culture. Thus, if the author wants to put blame somewhere for white supremacy let's lay it at his feet. Yes, I was offended by his remark over the founding of the U. S. as you most likely can tell. The remark came abruptly with no references so why include it? 

Having taken many courses on medieval history, I feel that I can write my own history book of this era. My book would be over 1,000 pages and no one would read that! However, it would be a complete history of the era that included every area of the map and explain how each culture intermingled with each other. As such, it is hard to give The Bright Ages a rating. It delivers a Eurocentric history which is what we were promised. I will go with 3 out of 5 stars. There are probably few people as interested in this era to be as dogmatic as I am. I know we are probably a little crazy.

The Light Ages

The Light Ages is a history of science in the medieval era. The author has redefined what we today call the Dark Ages as the Light Ages as far as science is concerned. Many scientific discoveries were made that are still current science.  Others were later improved upon by subsequent scientists. 

The publisher's summary:  

Soaring Gothic cathedrals, violent crusades, the Black Death:  these are the dramatic forces that shaped the medieval era. But the so-called Dark Ages also gave us the first universities, eyeglasses and mechanical clocks. As medieval thinkers sought to understand the world around them, from the passing of the seasons, to the stars in the sky, they came to develop a vibrant scientific culture.

In The Light Ages Cambridge science historian Seb Falk takes us on a tour of medieval science through the eyes of one fourteenth century monk, John of Westwyk. Born in a rural manor, educated at England's grandest monastery and then exiled to a cliff top priory, Westwyk was an intrepid crusader, inventor and astrologer. From multiplying Roman numerals to navigating by the stars we learn emerging science. On our way we encounter the English abbot with leprosy who built a clock, the French craftsman turned spy and the Persian polymath who founded the world's most advanced observatory.

The book opens with a question concerning whether Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a book on science. It was later determined that John of Westwyk wrote the book. I thought it was fascinating how scholars figured this out. The chapters are laid out by type of science. We read about how monks learned to tell time and that there are planets they mistook as stars. From figuring out the time of day by watching the daily difference in light and dark hours, these monks, the scholars of the day, later brought the world clocks. While they initially thought the sun orbited Earth, their conclusions about time were correct. The later discovery that the Earth orbited the sun did not change these conclusions. Astrology was a major topic for study as was the invention and later improvement of the astrologer.

I enjoyed the first half of the book but was less interested in the second half. Alot of material was repeated and I was bored. I found myself skipping pages. At 396 pages in length, the book may have been easier to read if it was shorter. 

3 out of 5 stars.

The White Ship

I needed to find a book that had the color white in the title for the Color Coded Reading Challenge.  I found this history book by Charles Spencer that I thought would be good. However, I had a hard time becoming interested in it.

The publisher's summary:

The sinking of the White Ship in 1120 is one of the greatest disasters England has ever suffered. In one catastrophic night, the king’s heir and the flower of Anglo-Norman society were drowned and the future of the crown was thrown violently off course.

In a riveting narrative, Charles Spencer follows the story from the Norman Conquest through to the decades that would become known as the Anarchy: a civil war of untold violence that saw families turn in on each other with English and Norman barons, rebellious Welsh princes and the Scottish king all playing a part in a desperate game of thrones. All because of the loss of one vessel – the White Ship – the medieval Titanic.

One review of the book states that it is just as gripping as a thriller. I beg to differ. The writing style is scholarly and while it tells a part of English history most of us are unfamiliar with, it was rather dull. The most excited I got was when I ran across a name of a direct ancestor here and there. I was expecting the book to be about a ship that sank at sea and wondered whether there would be some mystery concerning the sinking. The ship didn't sink until the halfway point in the story. 

The White Ship is a history book with a small section about a shipwreck. 2 out of 5 stars.